Washington State's economy at top of WalletHub's list. Are we business friendly or what?

Some people might be surprised, but according to WalletHub, Washington State has the strongest economy in the nation. Are we business friendly or what?

I would guess that a lot of things like our strong high tech economy, innovative traditions, emphasis on education and legalization of pot help. Remember, pot is a revenue source.

We also still have water. Quite a few states, in the west at least, are coming under more and more restrictions on water use which can have devastating effects on agriculture.

Ironically, liberal areas tend to have more wealthy folks than conservative areas, but they also tend to have more will to tax their wealthy folks

My thoughts from a recent comment thread on Facebook.

A lot of people in the prosperous cities want to tax themselves and especially their wealthy neighbors MORE. Here in Washington State, progressive and wealthy Seattle area usually votes to tax itself more, if it can. In some cases, the metro area is restricted by state laws against taxation that tend to be more popular on statewide ballots where both urban and rural, more conservative voters get a vote. Even if liberal minded people are often thought of as part of the elite, in urban areas, they often support higher taxes that wealthy folks, such as Bill Gates would pay.

Problem is, the State doesn't allow it, in many cases. For instance, cities can't impose an income tax though I think Seattle has tried that at the ballot. Washington State still has no state income tax.

I am remembering that Bill Gate's father was back of an initiative to tax the wealthy who make over (I think) $250,000 per year. I think Bill Gates, himself, supported the idea, but his own father was the main organizer of that initiative. That was Washington State Initiative 1098 in 2010.

That initiative did not pass the voters in a statewide vote. Rural areas, of Washington State, tend to be more conservative than the metro areas. There wasn't enough vote, even in the metros, to cancel out the vote from rural Washington. If King County (where Seattle is located) had been able to vote on it's own, I think that initiative would have passed.

If Eastern Washington State were to secede, why not be more original? Name the new state Columbia.

From Komo News, January 2019.

Two Republican state lawmakers from Spokane Valley have submitted a bill to create a 51st state - again.

House Bill 1509, sponsored by Rep. Matt Shea and Rep. Bob McCaslin, would split Washington state in half along the Cascades, separating Eastern Washington from Western Washington.

The counties on the west side of the Cascades would remain in the state of Washington, while the counties on the east side would comprise an entirely new state named Liberty.

From my Facebook.

Seems like whenever there is a movement to split a geographic entity, the break off region goes for a name like "Liberty." Years ago, there was a move to split two regions off of Whatcom County. There was "Freedom" and also "Independence" Counties. Can't people be more original? Seems like every break off idea goes for the a name like Independence.

If Eastern Washington were to create the 51st state, why not call it something related to local geography? How about the state of "Columbia?" Yes, the Columbia River is a very important feature right through the heart of Eastern Washington. Much of that economy is dependent on the river.

I tend to think breaking the state in two is a bad idea.

Here's some more of my thinking.

Where would the new state capital be? Spokane? That's an economic hub for both eastern Washington and Northern Idaho. Spokane calls itself the hub of the Inland Empire. It's like, "all roads lead to Spokane." Problem is, there's another Inland Empire. That Inland Empire is focused around east Los Angeles Metro area and San Bernardino.

Splitting regions can be problematic for sure; especially for a place like the town I grew up in; Pullman, WA. Pullman is home of a big University, Washington State University. Much of the money and students at WSU come from the populous and prosperous west side of the state.

Trivia question:

The last county to be created in Washington State. Created by a split is Pend Oreille County. It's up in the north east corner.

Seattle metro's inflated property values make it a sitting duck for funding state needs

I recently read Danny Westneat's July 5 column in Seattle Times. Seattle gets rolled in Olympia tax deal.

Here's another case where property value inflation leads to problems. Seattle metro's high property values make it a "sitting duck target" for state government struggling to find money to fund the McCleary school funding court mandate.

They balanced the budget with property taxes.

I (personally) might think that is okay. Not being a property owner, myself, I tend to think homeowners are all getting rich from growing equity. This, tho, isn't always the case. Those inflated property values are just the "new norm" that people have to deal with to afford living in our urban areas. Also, renters get hit too as property taxes get passed on in the form of higher rents.

Other forms of taxes, that also address the income gap in more accurate ways, aren't done in Washington State. In spite of being a "blue state," Washington has no state income tax. A good thing about income taxes is that they can be graduated so higher income people pay more.

Some forms of capital gains taxes can work also; like maybe when people sell property at a huge windfall. These kind of taxes don't usually pass in this state either.

We also keep missing opportunities to pass carbon taxes.

Here in Whatcom County, there is a pressing need to address our inadequate county jail. An expensive task. Plans for a big new jail have relied on local sales tax add-on; Washington's "workhorse" tax. Regressive. The last jail ballot measure failed. It would have raised local sales taxes to the limit which state conservatives have imposed (I-601 limits). Conservatives tend to support things like jails, but those sorts of things bust tax limits. Last year, as I remember, the Bellingham police guild feared that the jail tax would limit our ability to fund expansions to fire stations and other public safety. Crippling our local funding abilities for a whole 30 years.

In our city of Bellingham, which is more blue than rural county areas, I remember that our mayor suggested part of that bill, for the new jail, be covered by property taxes rather than all from the sales tax. Maybe a 50/50 split? Take some of the burden off of just the sales tax.

A jail expansion plan is heading back to the ballot, but I think it's still just a sales tax again.

Many liberals also think the plans for a new county jail are too large. There's a lot of local advocacy for alternatives to incarceration.

Come to think about it, some people think of schools as being prisons also. Large, institutional and costly.

Education is a valuable thing, but Washington may be unique in it's constitutional wording of education as it's top priority; the wording behind McCleary. Unfortunately this often leads to a "zero sum" battle between schools and other important state needs; such as social services, public safety, environmental protection and state parks.

We tend to suffer from "compartmental thinking." Put money in the compartment called "school" to have an enlightened society. I worry if the institutions of education cannibalize other things. Not that I don't value teachers and schools. Instead, I like to think more holistically. The job of teachers becomes harder if the rest of society is neglected. It's all part of a tapestry of society. State parks, for instance, can help education by preserving historic and natural places and presenting them to the public. Destinations for class field trips, if nothing else.

Another part of the tapestry is for people to pay their fair share in taxes. Graduated taxes on windfall profits and high personal incomes are best. Taxing business can be a problem that stifles business. It's better to tax the huge incomes and windfall profits that certain individuals make from business.

I guess property taxes have the same problem. Taxing landlords, for instance, is a problem as they pass that increase on to renters. Maybe it's better to try and tax the windfall profits that so often happen when property changes hands. Maybe that would cool down the inflated real estate market that's becoming so much of a problem in our prosperous urban areas.

Carl's Jr headquarters being pushed out of expensive California

A conservative person wrote an article on Investors.com website, "californias-carls-jr-says-so-long-golden-state" about businesses being driven out of areas by high taxes implying higher taxes are bad.

I have a somewhat different take, of course. In spite of California's high taxes, business is booming in many parts of California; especially in places like the San Francisco Bay Area. That prosperity is driving up the cost of living; for instance rents and property values. Also taxes, of course. Teachers have to be paid more so they can afford to live in those areas. Teachers, who work for the government, get their salaries from taxes so the taxes go up. Taxes go up along with the cost of living and the cost of doing business. Some businesses do get pushed out to other parts of the country that are more depressed. Those other parts tend to have lower taxes, but maybe it doesn't cost as much to live in those areas if you are, for instance, a teacher. Salaries for teachers and the taxes those salaries create can be lower.

I guess we can't have it all. We can't cram everything, including all the businesses and people, into California.

Conservatives also complain about high corporate taxes in USA as this article mentioned a company moving to Canada for lower corporate taxes. Yes, our "liberal" neighbor to the north has lower corporate taxes, but again, we can't have it all. Canada makes up for that revenue loss with higher taxes on wealthy individuals.

I've often thought we could lower our corporate tax rates so businesses would be encouraged to invest back in America, but, not being able to have it all, we would make up the revenue loss by taxing our wealthy individuals more.

Many rich executives talk about the need for business to have a tax environment that's reasonable rather than punitive, but they use that legitimate need to go cart-blanch on justifying all forms of getting wealthy, including unscrupulous forms of obtaining and keeping wealth.

Restaurant Association comes out in favor of increasing minumum wage, but here's a catch, in my opinion

Restaurant Association of Washington surprises some people by coming out in favor of increasing the minimum wage. Good news for the most part. Often restaurant associations oppose raising the minimum wage.

Still, there is kind of a catch to their logic, in my opinion. The cost of living and economic conditions vary widely from region to region; even within one state. The Restaurant Association wants a consistent minimum wage statewide, rather than the inconsistent patchwork of differing rules from city to city. Problem is, the economy is not the same in prosperous and expensive Seattle as it is, for instance, in rural parts of the state, like around Starbuck, WA. Yes, there is a Starbuck, WA. located northeast of Tri Cities. A statewide minimum wage would, most likely, have to be lower than what would work in Seattle. That's my opinion, at least.

On the other hand, they do have some valid concerns about trying to comply with different laws in different cities. Also the problem of restaurants loosing business when they are located near the border of high wage cities, for instance customers going out of high wage Seattle to eat in Renton where costs are lower.

These are problems associated with wide discrepancies in the economy. Discrepancies between income groups, regions and economic sectors. Another way to deal with this problem, besides trying to set an artificial minimum wage, is to bring back a steeper graduated income tax.

Gerrymandering. Didn't the courts used to step in and stop that when it went too far?

One hears that the gerrymandering of voting districts has gotten so bad that districts are either solid red or solid blue. There are few districts with real races anymore. Politicians from the districts are becoming so polarized that they don't work together and even don't speak to one another for the most part. Gerrymandering is usually done by state legislatures as they apportion congressional and other districts in their states. In the past, I heard of several times where courts stopped the gerrymandering and ordered a better way to divide up the districts more randomly. Courts can take that power away from the politicians and appoint demographers (population specialists) and other types of folks to redistricting commissions. Now the problem with gerrymandering is so bad, I wonder where are the courts today? They need to put a stop to this in each state.

Whitman County more blue than surrounding counties

Counting late ballots, Whitman County is now (as of last Friday) tipped over into the yes on Referendum 74 to legalize gay marriage in Washington State. Hurray.

Moot point anyway since 74 won statewide due to the big population in King County that was in favor. Nice to see Whitman join the yes side however. The only county to vote yes east of Cascade Mountains. I grew up in Whitman County where Pullman is located. A college town. Interesting to note that the county seat is not Pullman, it's Colfax, but Pullman is where most of Whitman County's population resides. Home of Washington State University.

One of my high school teachers called Pullman "the Athens of the Palouse." Whatcom County is in the yes category also. Whatcom is where Bellingham is located. I now live in Bellingham. Ref. 74 was strong in urban areas, such as around Seattle, but more weak in rural areas. Most of the land area of the state voted no, but land doesn't vote, people vote. It's kind of like red states versus blue states only it's red counties versus blue counties. Looking more closely (like at the precinct level), much of Whatcom County is more red, but urban Bellingham weighs heavy in the blue.

Seattle seems too busy today

After some time in Bellingham, I start heading south. First night out at a friend's farm near Lake Samish to watch meteor showers, then an 80 mile day to Everett. A lovely day. Then on south of Seattle.

Now having rode well south of Seattle to Tukwila just because every hotel I checked on-line was full. I checked 3. Then decided to make reservation at closest Extended Stay, since I was at one in Everett. Best one for cost and not being booked was Tukwila. Tomorrow, I ride back up into Seattle to catch the afternoon train out. Seems like a waste, but I did want to go on a bike trip.

It's mid week. Why are things so full in Seattle? Lots of construction for one reason. Things torn up. Obstacle course to get through. A "blue state" economic engine. Seattle seems to be doing business. Blue state innovation. Home for many information age corporations like Microsoft and Amazon, but the downside is, it's busy.

Mount Rainier looms over South Center Mall in Tuckwilla.

I stepped inside South Center for the first time. Have heard about it for years, but never had occasion to go there.

Most of Seattle area is quite bicycle friendly, but near this motel is South Center Mall. It was king of Washington State malls even back in the 1970s. It's huge, but now has a somewhat less happy reputation. Still basically a big mall. Remembered more recently for the rare occasion when a gang shooting, or something, happened there. I decided to take a look since I've never been there. Hard to find how to get to it by bike or walking. Few crosswalks. I finally made it, stepped inside and then left. Now I can say I've been there. It's kind of like a big monster.

Escape to Vancouver Gay Pride. That economy is huming

While the US was mired in it's debt ceiling fight, I escaped 23 miles north to Canada. No, I wasn't trying to escape USA. It was the gay pride parade in Vancouver and I have vacation time.

My pictures of parade.

Ironically, as USA teeters on bankruptcy, it might be better to head for USA than Canada since the Canadian dollar is now more valuable (last I checked) than US currency. Unless our society breaks down so we actually start shooting at each other, USA offers travel bargains, but I survived Canada's strong dollar for just 2 days. The difference isn't that much.

Main problem is, or let's call it a virtue, gay pride is big business in Vancouver. Try finding a motel room that isn't booked, or priced off the planet. An estimated 750,000 people showed up for pride, if I heard that correctly. CBC Radio was estimating impact on traffic with road closures and so forth. Were they also counting folks who live in the effected neighborhoods?

I stayed way out in Surrey in an affordable motel. That wasn't bad, just take the elevated Skytrain and feel like you're able to fly right downtown in minutes. Getting to Surrey was a bike ride for me. Only about 35 sunny miles from Bellingham.

Some folks invited us Bellinghamsters to join Vancouver Polyamory contingent in the parade. I got lots of pictures. The Vancouver Sun even mentioned our contingent. They said people were looking for their dictionaries when we passed by. What is polyamory?

Out of all the mass of folks, the god of coincidence was shining on me. A friend of mine happened to be waiting at the same Skytrain stop as I. What are the chances of us running into each other with 750,000 in the milling crowds?

As the Skytrain whisked us back out of the city, we had a good talk. My friend says the recession seems less evident in the "Lower Mainland" than most of USA, or even a lot of Canada for that matter.

Lower Mainland is basically the Vancouver metro area. Economy is humming, tho I'm sure it has some problems.

What's happening?

Innovation. It's like a blue state economy. Of course, it's all because of gay pride. Don't you know, I've heard several economists say that gay people are good for the economy.

Well also BC benefits from abundant natural resources. In an overpopulated world hungry for stuff like energy, it helps to have lots resources in the ground (for some reason, Canadians seem to pronounce it REZORCES). Natural gas, oil, hydro power, (or sometimes they just say HYDRO instead of calling it power). They also seem to enjoy good planning with less blatant conflict between government and private enterprise.

We can learn a lot from examples north of the border.

If eastern Washington were to secede?

If eastern Washington were to secede would WSU and Bryan Clock be left high and dry?

Splitting Washington State in half?

Written March 2005

What would happen to the higher education system?

Some West side "Blue Stators" will smugly point out that the state spends more, per capita, for roads in "tax cut" eastern Washington country than it does west of the Cascades.

More road miles to maintain per person in the wide open spaces of the east side.

It's true, if one ponders the duties of state government, the west side, with the economic engine of its urban areas, has a point.

This can certainly be seen in higher education; a major function of state government.

Splitting Washington would devastate both sides of the divide. More universities are on the east side while most of the students come from the west side.

Heavily populated Western Washington only has two universities while the east side enjoys three. Of course, University Of Washington, in Seattle (west side), has the largest enrollment, but the only other university is Western Washington University, here in Bellingham.

Evergreen State College, in Olympia (west side), is much smaller and not called a University.

With less population, eastern Washington has Eastern Washington University, in Cheney, Central Washington University, in Ellensburg and Washington State University, in Pullman. The latter often reports that King County, where Seattle is located, is the top "county of origin" for WSU Students.

Would those students come to WSU if they had to pay out of state tuition?

This situation could devastate the economy of Pullman, Washington which can be seen as an island of "blue state" in "red state" eastern Washington.

That college town, where I happen to be from (born and raised), is sometimes referred to as the "Athens of the Palouse."

If the west and the east were to divide, both sides would suffer higher education blues. College town economies of the east would be hurt by lack of students and the accompaniment of state funding. The west side would suffer from too many students with lack of classroom space. Enrollment ceilings, on the west side, are bad enough already.

Outside the business of state government, west side folks might have to swallow some of their smugness also. Much of the power that runs west side cities comes from dams on the Columbia River, in eastern Washington.

Some of western Washington's garbage goes east for disposal. Much of it goes all the way to eastern Oregon, to waste repositories around Arlington, Oregon.

Western Washington "blue state" people often boast about buying local, rather than supporting Walmart style corporate monsters.

Farmer's markets with local produce and musicians flourish on the west side, but where would the dairy farmers be with out hay from east of the mountains?

I once had a conversation with a truck driver who described what goes into milk, supposedly produced by Whatcom County (west side) dairy farms. Some grass is grown locally, but lots of hay is trucked in from eastern Washington. Feed corn comes from far afield. It is grown in places like southern Idaho and even the Dakotas. Dairy feed is even sweetened, sometimes, with cotton seed from places as far as Australia.

Yes, "local feel gooders," we live in a global economy. Global at least as long as people insist on living the way we do.

If eastern Washingtonians really wanted to play hardball and cut off some of the private commerce, this entire state would be devastated. However, that could not happen as long as both sides remain in USA where commerce crosses state lines easier than do local tax dollars or college students.

The Great Plains or California

Monument at geographic center of North America, Rugby, North Dakota.

The Great Plains or California

A very interesting article in May 2004 National Geographic about the Great Plains of USA. North, South Dakota, Nebraska and so forth. Some counties where median age is 60 and still loosing population. Stagnate economies.

Interesting irony, some of these sections of the Great Plains are politically conservative. People embrace hard work and lower taxes, yet the economies are stagnate. In some towns, the funeral home may be close to the only thriving business, but housing is affordable.

On the other hand, some of the politically liberal places, like San Francisco Bay area in California, have booming economies and un affordable housing.

Where they talk hard work and low taxes, there is nothing to do.

Where they talk justice for poor people and "down with the corporations," one must just about be a millionaire to live there.

Every ideology seems to not match reality at times.

See my short essay about Crossing North Dakota by bicycle.